How to Influence an Executive Team

Bonni and I tackled that question in this week’s monthly Q&A show — and talked about some of the legal/policy realities that often dictate what we can say. Yet, we didn’t address a key point that came to mind after we recorded:

What if people aren’t with you? Let me explain…

A lot of the time when someone is dismissed from a position, the firing manager has already tried a lot of things to help the person perform better. They’ve likely been documenting the issue for weeks or months, they’ve had multiple meetings to address the issue, and perhaps they’ve even role-played the conversation with HR.

As such, a lot of managers anticipate that after all that work, the rest of the team (finally free of the poor performer) will rise up and support the decision.

It doesn’t always happen. In fact, just yesterday, I was speaking with a client who feels uneasy about someone in their organization getting dismissed, despite the fact that they’ve been subject to abuse from the person who’s being let go.

Some managers are surprised to discover that after dismissing someone they perceive to clearly be holding back the organization from success, their team seems apathetic — and occasionally, downright angry. It’s a reminder to all of us that leaders often see a different perspective that others in the organization might not see.

We should never assume that a dismissal will be greeted with support from other’s in the organization. Even a dismissal that seems “obvious” to us may be met with confusion and anger by others.

If you dismiss someone, be prepared to do some of the processing afterwards with the team we discussed in this week’s episode. Bonni detailed how to navigate this while still staying true to the policies and procedures in many organizations.